alphanaga

My friend from India is studying in the UK and before she comes back home she wants to travel with her parents in a few Schenzen countries but the problem is she is not allowed to get a Schenzen visa because her UK visa expires in the month of October 2008. So is it possible to get her UK visa extended from UK itself?

alanR

Yes - but only if it's in relation to the course she is doing, that she is intending to do or she is transferring to a work visa

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoap...f5students#Q12
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoap...f5students#Q14

But I don't understand why she isn't allowed to get a Schengen visa

Land-of-Miles

Holders of UK student visas can apply for a 6 month limited leave to remain in the UK as a tourist once their study in the UK finishes providing that they have sufficient funds and reasons to leave the UK after the holidays.

The reason your friend wasn't allowed to get a Schengen visa was probably because in some countries (like France), to apply for a Schengen visa you must have at least six months left on your current UK visa (please correct me if I'm wrong though). Or she would need to have a ticket to India to show she is definitely going back to India after her Europe trip.

ajax

I believe that most countries which issue Schengen visas to UK residence permit holders require that the permit be valid for three months beyond the expiry date of the Schengen visa.

yunus.ahamed

Hi, I have one similar query. My name is Ahamed (Indian Nationality). I am living in UK for the last 3 years. I possess a Tier 1 General Migrant UK Visa (expires in Aug 2011) which enables me to Live and work for any employer in UK. I have applied for some job positions in Cork (Ireland) and I am looking forward to join. My question,
1. Do I need to get a appropriate Irish Visa to work in Ireland? If yes what is the procedure
2. I also have plans to settle in UK and apply for Residence Permit (PR) after completing 5 years term in UK. But if I go to Ireland, will I loose this opportunity? pls advice

measures

Of course you need a visa to work in Ireland. ITS NOT PART OF THE UK - you are not an EU citizen, I assume. If you really have a job offer from Cork, they will have advised you of your responsibilities in relation to visas.
If you really want to work in Ireland, why don't you do the research, and look up the relevant government websites that spell out the requirements in detail? Or, should your potential employer be worried that you haven't had the sense to try that?

David-A

And in answer to 2, yes you almost certainly will loose that!

ajax

There's no need to be nasty.

The gentleman clearly states his nationality which is not part of the EU.

ajax

Hi yunus.ahamed and welcome to FT!

Congratulations on getting the Tier 1 visa. These are not easy to get, especially for people from the subcontinent.

The UK and the Republic of Ireland are two separate sovereign nations with different governments and immigration policies.

To answer your questions:

1) Yes, you do need a separate visa to work in Ireland. I'm not sure of the requirements, but these are surely available on the Internet. Just search google for something like "irish immigration requirements" or seomthing similar.

2) If you complete five years' uninterrupted residence in the UK as a skilled worker, then you are entitled to apply for indefinite leave to remain. (Alright, it's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it.) If you choose to move to Ireland, then this time will not count towards your ILR eligibility period in the UK - remember, they are two separate countries. If you do not have plans to extend your residence in the UK beyond the expiration of your visa in 2011, then the clock will reset itself, as it were, and you will have to re-apply to come to the UK should you wish to return. And you will have to wait five more years after this point to even apply for ILR.

My advice would be to stay in the UK until at least you have ILR, since once you have it, you can maintain it for the rest of your life (I *believe* you have to enter the UK at least once every two years to keep it, although other FTers have got around this). Once you have ILR, then move to Ireland if you so choose. But don't pass up the opportunity while you have it. Going to Ireland in the middle of your time in the UK would be silly. Don't let the golden opportunity of having a UK visa today slip away. Getting it back may not be as easy as you think.

Best wishes to you.

Christopher

Hello yunus.ahamed and welcome to FlyerTalk.

The answer by ajax looks right to me. So:
1. Yes, you would need an appropriate visa; if the company in Ireland is a reputable one, they will be able to advise you about what to do, but it may well remain your responsibility to do it.

2. Yes, time spent in Ireland (apart from Northern Ireland) will not count towards settlement/permanent residence in the UK.

I'd also add that, although you might think that the UK immigration service is poor, the service in Ireland is (by all accounts) truly shocking: slow and difficult to negotiate. Naturalisation (if you were to stay in Ireland for long enough and go down that route) is also appallingly badly managed, apparently, with very long waiting times (measured in years, not months) and, at times, capricious decision-making.

If you see your future as being in Europe, my advice would be to stay in the UK for now and get your indefinite leave to remain there rather than moving to Ireland. Just to add, though, if you move to Ireland even with indefinite leave to remain, you risk losing that status in the UK: you really need to be a British citizen to be able to live outside the UK and not risk losing the ability to go back to live in the UK.

Of course, the job in Cork might be a dream job for you, or you might not see your future in Europe but, rather, want to experience working and living in a different country, in which case my advice is not necessarily the best advice.

All the best with whatever you decide!

Christopher

[Duplicate post in error - deleted]

Aviatrix

Welcome to FT, yunus.ahamed

A question for you...: When you applied for that job in Cork, did you inform the company of your nationality?

Here in the UK (and I believe the rules are similar in the rest of the EU) jobs may only be offered to someone from outside the EU if the employer can prove that they were unable to find a candidate who already has the right to work here (i.e., UK/EU national or someone with a Migrant visa like yours). If an employer offers a job to someone from outside the EU then it's the employer's responsibility to obtain a work permit for the prospective employee, and the work permit will be tied to that one specific job.

So - if you were to be offered a job in Ireland then, in all likelihood, the employer would have to sort out your work permit... but they would only get that work permit for you if they can convince the authorities that you were the only suitable candidate.

But, as others have said, it would be very unwise for you to leave the UK now as you would jeopardise your chances of permanent residence.

measures

It wasn't my intention to be nasty - sorry if it seemed so. I was, though, quite impatient that someone would expect other posters to do simple research for them, particularly when they are clearly able to use a Forum, so must be comfortable with using the internet.
I used to contribute to a professional forum that advises on a particular skill until I realised that people were using it as an alternative to paying for proper training, or paying for the manuals (no, no, no I'm not suggesting that this is the case here! just explaining where I'm coming from).